NYRA Chair Michael Del Giudice yesterday said that the "first order of business after Labor Day is to work on the twice derailed plan" to put the state's horse racing organization "back in private nonprofit hands," according to a front-page piece by Rick Karlin of the Albany TIMES UNION. Not having resolved the governance of NYRA, which operates the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga horse tracks, has left race officials "hobbled on some initiatives they say are needed to bring racing into the 21st century." Del Giudice said that "technology purchases, track renovations and other moves, especially the push to reach younger fans, are a priority," but that "requires long-term funding commitments." NYRA President & CEO Chris Kay said that the "temporary nature of the current board brings several disadvantages, including the openness with which the current state-controlled NYRA must operate." Due to its public nature, NYRA meetings are "open and webcast." Kay said that the trouble is that NYRA's "competitors in other states get an idea of what it plans to do." Despite the challenges, Kay and other NYRA execs "outlined some of their upcoming plans," including the 80 hours of live racing on FS2. To enhance the broadcasts, NYRA plans features "about the people in racing and they want to use visuals, similar to that being employed in coverage of the Olympics in Brazil, like computer-generated 'lanes' or markers to show the path a given horse is taking around the track" (Albany TIMES UNION, 8/11).
A DIFFERENT BREED: NYRA CFO Gordon Lavalette reported that handle for NYRA's races through Q2 was $1.071B, an increase of $57.4M over the same period in '15. DAILY RACING FORM's David Grening noted that increase came despite a $36.4M drop in handle on the Belmont Stakes "due to the lack of a Triple Crown opportunity and four fewer racing days." Kay said that through the first 16 days of the Saratoga meet, all-sources handle was $264.3M, up $3.9M over '15. Off-track handle is down $2.7M from last year (DRF.com, 8/10).
